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Description: Through ethnographic and comparative inquiry, nine anthropologists and one historian examine the ideological and social dimensions of merit and blessing in the Southeast Asian mainland. Merit is central to the Buddhism of the lowland peoples and to the feasts of merit of some upland tribal groups. This volume explores the similarities and differences in Buddhist merit and the merit derived from feasts of merit. Blessing also features in both lowland and upland regions, and is examined here in a comparative perspective. Taking inspiration from Leach and Kirsch, contributors consider the interplay of social structure, cosmology, economics, and politics, and look at ways that these are influenced by interethnic interactions. After Lehman sets the stage by developing a regional model of merit and blessing societies, the case studies proceed in the opposite direction on a blessing-to-merit continuum: Lahu creation myths (Du), Akha ritual and asymmetric marriage alliance (Kammerer), Hmong fertility and rebirth (Symonds), Lisu honor and blessing (Durrenberger), Lhota Naga village-founding ceremonies (Woodward), Northern Thai religious complexity (Renard), Shan blessing practices (Tannenbaum), and Burmese Buddhist associations (Schober). O'Connor concludes the volume by drawing on the classic sociological theories of Durkheim and Weber to consider what these case studies show about the relationship of religion and society.
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